What kind of city do you want to live in? Do you want a first-rate, full-service city that provides the full range of municipal services, or would you settle for a second-class city where some services are provided by other government entities over which you have no control? For several months our City Commission has been quietly exploring the possibility of giving our Fire Department to Palm Beach County. The county firefighters union proposed to our mayor that the city would…

Delray Beach is without a city manager after three city commissioners suspended, but couldn’t fire, Louie Chapman Jr., their manager for only a year. Mayor Cary Glickstein joined Commissioners Jordana Jarjura and Shelly Petrolia to suspend Chapman with pay for 90 days on May 13. The city charter requires four votes to fire a city manager. …

Fishing is an important part of the Florida lifestyle as well as its economy. In spite of the obvious benefits, this leisure-time activity, on occasion, can lead to problems for birds and other wildlife, such as sea turtles and manatees. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists, monofilament fishing line and fishing hooks can entangle these animals, leading to injury and…

The History of Ocean Ridge, Gail Adams Aaskov’s book on the town’s heritage, has been updated and reprinted. Originally published in 1995, this is the publication’s third printing. The comprehensive guide includes a chronology of events, an explanation of the structure, function and financing of local government, description of municipal services and the public service department and a listing of past town officials. Photographs of some of the town’s historic…

Gulf Stream town commissioners have just begun thinking about a budget for the next fiscal year, but already they are close to a consensus that they can’t afford to give taxpayers a rate rollback. The decision to hold the line doesn’t mean that homeowners’ tax bills will hold steady, too. They are poised to go up because of a sizable jump in real estate values. According to Town Manager William Thrasher, preliminary numbers from…

Christopher O’Hare tried another argument to get a metal roof approved for his Place au Soleil home, but Gulf Stream town commissioners rejected it like all the others. This time, however, the rejection wasn’t unanimous, but 4-1. Commissioner Donna White voted against turning down O’Hare’s appeal, saying she was unsure whether the town’s ordinance was at odds with state law. “On the basis of what was there, I thought the state…

It might be time for Ocean Ridge to think about adding a motto to the town seal. How about “World Leader in Beach Access Opinions”? Town commissioners heard plenty of them from residents during a lively 2½-hour workshop that ended with Mayor Geoffrey Pugh distilling an increasingly complicated and testy debate into a two-pronged approach for managing beachgoers. “You do it through information and enforcement,” Pugh said…

Homeowners and house flippers who ignore code violations aren’t likely to get much sympathy from the Ocean Ridge Town Commission these days. Ask Prodigy Capital, a Palm Beach Gardens-based real estate investment group that pleaded for leniency over $24,255 in fines after taking over a foreclosed house at 17 Hudson Ave. Commissioner James Bonfiglio, former head of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, told Prodigy’s…

Ocean Ridge commissioners have grudgingly agreed to give the owners of the town’s five-store business district a three-month extension to submit plans for overhauling the 60-foot-deep strip at 5011 N. Ocean Blvd. But they warned the Sivitilli family to make sure the application to renovate the property is complete because the commission isn’t inclined to grant more time. “You’ve had 10 years to do this — to convert from commercial…

Marsha Love’s The Cat at Cason Cottage may be the only children’s book set in Delray Beach that includes a cat named Clarabelle, a series of friendly ghosts and, of course, lots of local history. Love — a descendent of early Delray Beach pioneers including Dr. J.R. Cason who built the cottage in 1924 — uses the book to bring back some of her relatives as spirits who visit a lonely feline residing in the cottage. Used…

Fishermen have won the right to fish for sharks off all but the public beaches in Delray Beach. “There’s nothing good about shark fishing near a public beach,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said as city commissioners reached a compromise with an attorney who had threatened to challenge the legality of the city’s shark-fishing ban. A city law passed in 2009 prohibited shark fishing, including baiting and chumming, within the city…

Town Council President Sue Thaler says Briny Breezes got its “wrist slapped” in December when the Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General released a report criticizing how the town does its business. But it was really more about the Briny handshake than its wrist. For years, the town has kept it informal when hiring vendors, often using word-of-mouth instead of advertising and renewing contracts with little more than a…